Your brain can act as either an ally or an adversary.

It follows instructions and searches for exactly what you specify.

If you dedicate yourself to chasing a distinctly defined goal that seems unattainable, you’ll draw in all the essential resources to bring it to fruition.

Your journey of change begins with the powerful processor inside your head.

You have the option to challenge yourself by acquiring skills that are entirely outside your present capabilities, or you can allow yourself to be stuck in a sluggish loop of unproductive routines.

One keeps your brain in top shape, while the other causes harm — I bet you can tell which one is which.

The point I'm emphasizing is that how you use your mind is entirely up to you.

In today's world, developing habits that align with your life goals has never been simpler.

Our knowledge has expanded, and we are equipped with greater resources. This elevates us to a level of advancement like never before.

Still, the majority of individuals opt for a life filled with distractions.

Their behavior is harmful, leading to the deterioration of their mental health.

Consequently, they struggle to achieve significant strides toward living a happier and more fulfilling life.

In this story, I’ll point out 5 of those harmful habits to help you recognize them.

I will provide you with the resources to help condition your mind to benefit you.

By sticking to these guidelines, you'll be well-equipped to achieve your desired outcomes.

The way you exercise your mind sets the course for who you become.

Many individuals unintentionally condition their minds to delay tasks.

However, your brain isn’t concerned with whether you intentionally shaped its current state or not; it simply responds to whatever instructions you give it.

Here’s the thing: it’s impossible to enter a state of flow if your brain has been trained to operate sluggishly.

Your mind will perpetually wander, preventing you from being entirely absorbed in what you're doing.

It doesn’t help that society has conditioned us for consumption.

Recently, someone questioned me, “What’s the point of having a phone if you’re going to put it on DND?” Their call didn’t go through because I had Do Not Disturb activated. All they wanted was to borrow something for a social media photo.

Many individuals in your surroundings are caught up in consumerism.

They HAVE to have it just to start their day.

But this conditions you to procrastinate.

When you wake up and immediately reach for your phone to start consuming content, you're instantly fragmenting your mind.

You’re confusing your priorities.

When your priorities become muddled, you end up taking on more tasks than your mind can handle even before you begin the work you’re actually meant to do.

This doesn’t just lead to needless distractions; it also diminishes your chances of achieving success.

Benjamin Hardy once remarked, "Being distracted makes you busy. Being busy makes your brain slow."

When your mind feels sluggish, you tend to delay tasks and ultimately end up feeling down about yourself.

Rather than putting things off in the morning, it's much better for your health and productivity to start your day with a clear focus on your top priority and dedicate the first hours to tackling it.

Mark Twain calls this eating the frog.

He said, “If you need to eat a live frog, tackle it first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will occur for the remainder of the day.”

By tackling your most critical task right at the start of your day, you can condition your mind to be proactive and stay in a productive flow.

Keep in mind that the term "most important task" refers to work that can significantly alter your life.

For instance, my morning routine begins with getting out of bed immediately after waking up, then heading to the bathroom, jotting down some thoughts in my journal, and finally diving into my writing on Medium.

There’s no delay in action.

I've trained my mind to perform its tasks exactly when they need to be done.

My initial instinct is to make something new instead of just taking things in.

When you tackle your top-priority tasks right away, your brain shifts into an action-oriented mindset.

You stop procrastinating.

You achieve your initial victories before anyone else rises for the day.

This energy carries on with you all day long, enabling you to get a lot more done.

Many folks aren't very productive because they've developed a habit of procrastinating.

They’re reactive in the morning.

If you start your morning off right, you'll set yourself up for a successful rest of the day.

Within just a few minutes after waking up, tackle your toughest, most daunting task first.

Here's how you can achieve maximum productivity and maintain a state of flow.

We exist in an era where overconsumption comes effortlessly.

When my parents were younger, they relied on books to learn and discover new things.

To them, overconsumption involved dedicating their whole day to reading or repeatedly visiting the store to purchase food.

This just wasn’t practical.

These days, it only takes the push of a few buttons.

For instance, if I'm curious about Kim Kardashian's latest activities, I can simply check Instagram. If I'm looking for a weekend date, I just need to swipe right a few times.

This isn't to imply that gaining access and moving forward are negative aspects… They're not…

The issue begins with what you’re eating.

A lot of what people eat is unhealthy.

When you continually fill your mind with junk, you're essentially teaching yourself to accept lower standards.

The most frustrating aspect is that many individuals tend to overindulge and yet still feel they require more.

According to Benjamin Hardy, this situation resembles “the mental equivalent of an obese person who thinks they’re hungry all the time.”

Most individuals are aware of the steps they need to take to advance their goals, but they often prefer to seek additional excitement and consumption, feeling as though they haven't had their fill yet.

They’re mentally obese.

I appreciate Benjamin Hardy's perspective – as he put it:

Many individuals tend to consume information in an unhealthy manner. They often go for the quick and easy options, much like the "fast food" of the information world — convenient but detrimental to their concentration. Diets high in easily consumed, artificial information can at best result in average cognitive ability.

Many individuals don't maintain a healthy information intake. They're often drawn to the easily accessible, superficial "fast food" of information, which is just as harmful to mental focus. Consuming large amounts of artificial, low-value information typically results in subpar cognitive abilities at best.

When you ingest subpar information, your perspective on the world degrades in quality.

As Zig Ziglar wisely put it, “Your input shapes your perspective. Your perspective shapes your actions, and your actions shape your destiny."

If you’re taking in junk, your perspective on the future will be junk.

Your standards will be low level.

Every bit of this is training your brain on how to operate.

It can only manage with what it’s provided.

To get it working to your advantage, you need to get rid of all the clutter.

Consume less but better information.

Follow Pareto’s principle. 80/20.

A fifth of your efforts yield 80% of your achievements.

… So focus on that 20%

Eliminate 80% of what you take in. It’s unnecessary.

Benjamin Hardy mentioned that a key aspect of making your brain more effective, extraordinary, and strong is by setting clear criteria for when you agree to something and when you decline.

Seek quality instead of quantity.

Anything you permit to enter signals to your brain that it holds importance; consequently, your brain will permit it to bypass its filter.

You can truly understand someone by observing what they dedicate themselves to.

The things you consistently agree to shape your identity.

This encompasses aspects such as your weight, income, relationships, and beyond.

What you currently possess is the outcome of the dedication and efforts you made previously.

To secure a brighter future, you need to dedicate yourself to it.

Consume less, but better.

This will train your mind to ignore anything that doesn't help you reach your goals.

You’ll elevate your expectations and enhance the efficiency of your actions, helping you reach your goals more swiftly.

There’s a limit to what you can accomplish in a single day.

Once you go past this threshold, you'll find yourself lost in a sea of aimless tasks.

This happens because whenever you shift between tasks, your brain incurs a penalty during the transition. It needs time to "download" the new task into the context of your working memory.

Not only does this break your concentration and disrupt your flow, but it also drains your energy in the process.

You’re not able to go deep.

Psychologists call this phenomenon task switching.

To accomplish significant goals, you need to train your mind to concentrate intensely on a single task for a period of 3–4 hours.

When you focus on a single task at a time, your brain conserves energy by avoiding the effort spent on shifting between different activities.

You remain in flow.

For this reason, I focus exclusively on research when I'm gathering information for my Medium stories. I avoid switching tasks. I dedicate time specifically for writing and reserve separate time solely for editing.

You need to condition your mind to concentrate on a single task at once.

When you're juggling numerous tasks all day long, it stops your mind from delving deeply into the few things that really count.

You’re literally obstructing your path to greatness.

Generally speaking, it’s best to limit yourself to no more than three main tasks each day.

If you go beyond this limit, you’re stepping into unproductive territory.

The majority of individuals usually fit into one of two groups.

• They lack a well-defined objective.
• Their goal is well-defined, but their progress is only minor.

Both of these have negative effects on your brain.

As the Cheshire Cat wisely pointed out in Lewis Carroll’s timeless story, Alice in Wonderland, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”

Put another way:

Without a well-defined goal, any strategy you choose could work, as you won't fail to achieve a goal that doesn't exist.

Without a specific goal in mind, any strategy you choose will appear successful because there's no clear objective to meet.

Another issue is setting a clear goal that merely makes small progress from your current position.

For instance, making it to the end of the month when you receive your paycheck or reaching the weekend to enjoy two days off.

Their vision for the future lacks depth and isn't inspiring enough to elevate them to a more significant, improved version of themselves.

Dan Sullivan calls this a 2x vision.

It’s about extending your present circumstances to shape your future trajectory.

You could put it this way: "As a junior engineer, I aim to advance to a senior engineer role."

You’re simply maintaining the pattern. You’re following a straightforward route.

This is psychologically damaging as it allows you to hold on to much of your present lifestyle. It's at this point that overindulgence starts.

As stated by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan, the writers of 10x Is Easier Than 2x, pursuing a 10x goal is the path to living the most joyous and satisfying life.

10x involves setting and fully dedicating yourself to an ambitious goal that might initially seem unattainable.

The main reason many individuals avoid it is that it requires them to give up 80% of their current lifestyle, which often serves as their comfort zone.

Jim Rohn offered insight into the concept of going 10x with his advice: “Set a goal to become a millionaire for what it makes of you to achieve it. Do it for the skills you have to learn and the person you have to become.”

He realized that setting ambitious objectives is fundamental to personal growth.

2x goals frequently originate from a position of necessity.

You NEED to get married.

You NEED a promotion.

You’ve got to make it through to the month's end.

The problem with setting goals like this is that, once you reach them, your brain moves on to craving something else. This happens because it was never trained to envision what you truly DESIRE.

To elevate your mind, you need to envision a future version of yourself that feels almost out of reach and work towards making that dream a reality.

This compels your brain to function at a more advanced level.

The right individuals, resources, and opportunities will start to come into your life, guiding you toward your goals.

Simply moving quickly doesn’t necessarily mean you’re making progress.

You should take a moment to think about your objectives and evaluate whether your present actions are moving you toward them.

Most individuals skip this step, and that's precisely why they don't reach a world-class level.

Reflection plays a crucial role in engaging in deep work and practicing with intention.

What advancements have you achieved over the last week?

If you’re unaware, how can you improve?

Make sure to set aside time to watch, monitor, and document every step that brings you nearer to your objectives.

Observing this advancement provides your brain with a boost of motivation.

You’ll immediately feel inspired to achieve even greater progress.

As Pearson’s law states:

When you measure something, it gets better. If you both measure and report it, the improvement accelerates dramatically.

What gets measured tends to improve. What gets measured and reported sees exponential improvement.

Allow your brain to enjoy some well-deserved gratification for all its effort.

Take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate your successes.

Not only does it bring joy to your mind, but it also empowers you to reshape your past experiences.

Reflecting on a past memory allows you to interpret its significance and understand how it has contributed to your growth.

This is what I needed to do when I exited the cult...

I settled down with a person I trust and opened up about all of my memories.

He neither judged nor gave any advice; he simply listened.

The more I talked about what I went through, the more I understood that I had the power to see it in a positive light.

In psychology, this phenomenon is referred to as post-traumatic growth.

It occurs when you undergo significant psychological growth due to facing extremely challenging and stressful life situations.

Anyone can experience post-traumatic growth.

The key lies in how you interpret your past..

It's impossible to define your past without taking a moment to reflect.

Just slow down.

You don’t need to go so fast.

Focus on making meaningful progress.

Take a moment to pause and reflect on your current position, the journey you've undertaken, and the direction you're headed.

Are you on course?

The more you practice this, the better you train your mind to identify opportunities that will help you reach your goals.

The efficiency of your brain relies on how well you train it.

If you train it to adopt negative habits, it'll follow those cues and behave accordingly.

Additionally, you can train it to achieve optimal performance by following instructions.

You possess the capability to accomplish what currently feels impossible, but it's all about how you condition your mind.

The reality is that it’s here to assist you.

Its goal is to sort out what matters most to you.

It wants to find hidden treasures.

It aims to cultivate distinctive talents, capabilities, and relationships.

The only caveat is that you have to be the one to code it to deliver the results you're dedicated to.

Thanks for reading!